This Wednesday Night

This week we will be talking about an interesting issue that teens face.  We will be talking about paranormal activity.  Basically Ghost Stories. I wanted to make you aware of this topic.  I will be showing a skit from a Christian crew called Skit Guys as part of the teaching.  It is mildly scary, but hey Ghost Busters was scary for me.  With Halloween coming up I thought it would be a great time to discuss this topic.  

The Scripture for the Night will be Acts 19

I am including some discussion question for you to ask.  PS.  In this instance the answer is the sunday school one.  Jesus is the answer.  The name of Jesus is powerful, prayer is powerful!  Jesus is more powerful than anything you and your family come up against weither it is medical, psychological, or spiritual.

I will be talking about how much of the things we are scared of we make up.  

The things on TV are fake

Sometimes what we are dealing with are medical or psychological problems that people have.  

But from time to time there might be a spiritual condition that needs to be addressed.  My goal for the night will be to address all three of these.

1. How did this video make you feel? Were you scared?

2. Why do many humans love to be scared?

3. Do you believe spirits and demons exist today?

4. Do you believe witchcraft, warlocks, Ouija boards, and séances are gateways for demons to work? Why or why not?

5. If there is a spiritual realm, how can you connect more closely with God in your daily life?

6. Have you ever felt supernaturally “attacked”? If so, describe your situation.

7. How does prayer help in your daily walk with God?

8. Have you ever been in a situation that just “felt” wrong—perhaps even a bit evil? If so, how did you respond?

9. Can Satan grip humans’ lives in ways that leaves them paralyzed with fear or paranoia?

10. If demons clearly believed in Jesus’ authority, how does it make you feel when we deny Christ and his word and his authority?

Lisa Easton

So excited about this weekend. Lisa Easton and Family will be leading us in worship.  Her new Album is also coming out this weekend!  We are so blessed to have help with worship at Fusion and BridgePointe.

Our Dream Team Rocks and Rolls

Today I am reminded how blessed I am to have so many dedicated people give so selflessly to the Student Ministry at BridgePointe.  I have begun referring to them as the Dream Team because honestly thats what they are.  I am a starting my third fall here at BridgePointe.  I think of all the stress, the late nights, the worry of "if this is going to work?" of that first year and then I look at the ministry now.   How it runs so amazingly well. With people stepping up into roles that we have dreamed together about.  Adults investing into young people knowing there names, birthdays, and truly care about their lives.  I am so blessed to be able to work with these men and women of God.  It is one of their birthday's today. This reminded me of how blessed I am to have such talented people to gain wisdom, knowledge, and insight from.  Thank you for caring and investing in the Kingdom of God.

Im going to use this word and I don't want to...

For the past couple of weeks things have, as the great theologian Ron Burgandy said, "Boy, that escalated quickly".  Student Life is experiencing something I have only dreamed about, something that I am hesitant to even talk about.  The word is Revival.  There has been such an outpouring of the Spirit in our times together.  It is unlike anything I have ever seen and to be honest I have hardly ever read about it.  The prayer time of our student's is powerful.  This past Wednesday I watched as our students led worship, led in praying for each other, and led in stepping out in faith.  I am amazed at how God is using them.    I am scared of using the word Revival.  It makes me seem outlandish or crazy, but for this moment, for these students, something special is happening and am so excited to be apart of it.  It is a revival in there lives and I pray that it takes hold in their families, school, and in this community.  Please join with me in prayer and fasting for this movement in the lives.

Something is happening

So in the last couple of weeks we split the Student Ministry into Fuel (Middle School) and Fusion (High School).  The biggest complaint I have heard is from a middle schooler saying they wanted to be fed during the middle of the week too!  (Btw that is awesome)  I love it when students want more Jesus!  In my time here at BridgePointe I have never had a student say I wish we had more games, its always we want more worship, more praying, more Bible Stuff!  These are complaints I will gladly deal with.

In the last couple of weeks we have had an outpouring of the Holy Spirit at our times together.  Things are happening, lives are being changed and the presence of God is being felt in the room with us.  God is honoring the longing of our hearts to see God move and to feel Him with us is.  I am blown away at the way God is meeting us.  I am always thinking about how can we come up with the next cool thing and then I realized I don't have to.  Nothing can compete with the presence of God.  No Xbox, no TV show, no sport, nothing can compete when God decides to show off.

So please join me in praying that God would continue to show Himself at Fuel and Fusion because something is happening here and I want to be apart of it and I think you do as well.

Fuel Kicks off this week

This Sunday night 6:30-8:00 we kick off a new chapter in  Student Life at BridgePointe.  "Fuel"starts off!  This ministry will be for all Middle School students!  These nights will be specifically formed with Middle Schooler in mind.  I can t wait to see you all there.  Chasing Lions will be leading worship for the first two weeks of Fuel and you never want to miss that!

Pool Party

You want a free event for your student to go to?  Okay done!!

This Saturday at the Arnold's house we will be having a Middle School only pool party form 6:00-8:30  food will be provided.  This would be a great time to introduce your friends to the group.  5 graders going into 6th are welcome.

The Arnold's

Arnold

613 Ashwood Ct.

Woodstock, GA 30189

(770) 575-1284

This Tuesday night we will be having a High School Only Pool Party 6:00-8:30 at the Fragnoli's  Food will be provided.  8 graders going into 9th are welcome!

Fragnoli's

Fragnoli

Falls of Chrerokee

409 Morgan Falls Chase

Canton, GA 30114

(770) 294-6111

water wings are for Pastor Keith

Here it is the new look of Student Life!  It kinda looks like a carbon chain and its supposed to.  Carbon is the building block of life, just like I believe participation in Student Life is the building block for you Spiritual Life.  All of the main ministry aspects of Student Life are represented in the logo, Student Life, Fusion, Fuel, Elements, Depth, and Leap.  Check out the our website to see what each hexagon means!

ReBranding, ReLaunching, ReTooling

Latter this week we will be launching all the new logos and even a completely new ministry in Student Life at BridgePointe.  Its pretty exciting actually and nerve racking. Questions come up like: How will parents receive the changes, will students show up?  Does anyone care that we spent hours racking our brains about what all this will look like for this school year?  Will it work?  Will the Kingdom of God grow because of these efforts? Just because something looks good doesn't mean it wont be a colossal failure. But its important that we go to the effort of this Relaunch.  The new logos are meant to give everything the same feel and look, to make our ministry seem more purposeful instead of a collection of things to do.    

Here is the point I am working on this morning.  ReBranding is an important part of life.  We reinvent who we are all the time.  Especially at this time of year with students getting ready to go back to school or moving from Middle School to High School.  This is an opportunity to rebrand yourself.  You dont have to be the person you were last year.  Most of the dumb stuff you did has been forgotten, the bad haircut you got has grown out, and you got contacts instead of glasses.  

This year you can rebrand yourself, get better friends, try a sport or quit a sport, actually do your homework this year.  Start praying for the strength to be the person God wants you to be.  Go for it.  Sure you might fail but safe is boring.

Motion is Coming

Today we have been working on Motion.  Motion is a conference experience that is put on by Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, AL, the fastest growing church in America.  It will be an amazing weekend for our students, with artists like Starfield and Leeland leading the worship experiences.  I can't wait to see God move in our students at this event.  Motion will be July 28-30 and cost $155 per person.  Sign up by July 10.  We have intentionally stepped down our summer programming to make it easier to afford this experience.  Instead of spending $20 here and there we want to focus the resources on an event that will have the most return on the investment.  That is how much we believe in Motion.  It is easy to sign up your student at the Motion Signup Form.  Feel free to contact Jarad with any questions.  Medical forms are available at www.bridgepointesudents.com

*Michelle Troche will be in the Lobby to take sign ups this weekend as well as you can use bridgepointe giving to pay the registration PAY HERE

Leap 2011-2012 Sign Ups

Leap End of the Year Trip Video
Leap is designed to help Student jump to the next level in their relationship with God.  Students will learn first hand how to build community, how to lead well, and how to serve the church and community.  This program is geared to train students to be effective for the Kingdom of god in whatever environment they find themselves in after high school.


Fill out Applications Here


Application is due by July 21

Indy Cars are like Churches

So my wife loves the Indy 500.  We grew up an hour away from Indianapolis and her Dad sells auto parts. Its kinda in her blood.  So over the years I have learned a lot about Indy cars.  They used to have different chasis, engines, tires, all kinds of fun stuff.  Now they are pretty much the same, same chasis, tires, engines. To me, BORING! Basically every car is the same except for  driver and his or her skill.  Cool if your the driver but to the guy who wants to see cars go faster and set new records its lame.  The reason for the sameness is for safety.  A good reason but for 100 years the Indy 500 is been about innovation and creating new things to go faster.  But they have gotten away from innovation in favor of safety and the ratings are getting lower and lower ratings article here .

Instead of making everything the same why not innovate better safety equipment.  (My imagination has huge blow up balls that cover the cars bouncing around the race track after a wreck.)  We don't do that? We retreat to safety instead of moving forward to innovation.

Our churches are like the Indy 500 (not mine of course, just yours hehe)  we have gone away from the innovation, the creativity to set new records because we want safety.  Think about it.  When was the last time you walked into a church and said Woah!  Now you probably heard the same Chris Tomlin songs and Hillside United (if you prefer a contemporary service) or the same Gaither songs (I don't want to talk about it). Yeah it may be hard, dangerous, and down right scary but what happens when we push the boundaries.  What happens when better systems are put in? How is the kingdom of God effected with drastically different worship, service, and spiritual formation ideas?  I am not speaking just to worship styles, but to the way in which we lead the congregation and teach the scripture.  Is anyone else tired of Andy Stanley or Rick Warren clones?  They are great preachers awesome communicators but I am not them and neither are you.  (I tried to be Rob Bell once I even have dark rimmed glasses it didn't work out well)
If the Indy 500 went back to innovation instead of safety ratings would sky rocket.  If churches got back to innovating the Kingdom of God would be made present here on earth.

Prom is this Saturday

So Prom is this weekend...  So many things to say about that but I don't know how awkward to be in a blog post.  So let me say this.  Be classy Woodstock.  Be classy.

By that I mean.  This is prom it can be a great night, memorable night, a night that you remember fondly for years to come.  Or it can be terrible, horrible, no good bad day and a night that you want to forget for the rest of your life.  So which do you want?

This is a legacy night.  For seniors this is one of the last memories you will have of high school.  How do you want to remember it?  As a night that was wasted with alcohol or inappropriate sexual situations.  I mean seriously Prom should be about something other than getting drunk and seeing how far you can get.  So what should it be about then?

How about a night to build great memories with your friends or your significant other.  What does prom look like if you go with the mindset to have fun and enjoy each other.   So my tip to have fun this Prom is, go without expectations.  Drop the pretenses of "I have to dance with this person every dance".  Sit down during the slow songs, act goofy on the fast songs.  Don't take yourself seriously, do the Electric Slide, you know you want to,  For heaven's sake don't grind on people, its just wrong, and nasty, and gross, seriously don't do it.

Be the group of Students that everyone else wishes they were in because of the insane amount of fun your having.  So like I said Stay Classy Woodstock, Stay Classy.

If you get into a situation where you need help or somewhere else to go my home is open to you and my phone will be on.  Much Love!

Fondue is food for the Soul

My wife and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary last night.  Which is a pretty big deal if you know me, you might ask how could anyone want to be with that guy for eight years but alas she is amazing and patient...  So in honor of the occasion we went to Dante's down the Hatch ,a wonderful fondue restaurant, that features live jazz music.  It is also has a full size 19th century ship in the middle of the restaurant (which is awesome).

Now for the the point.  We ate Fondue.  This is not something you can rush.  If you do eat it to fast, you wind up burning an assortment of appendages or just undercooking your food.  By taking your time with it, handling with care, slowing down, and taking care that each piece is cooked just right ensures the best possible result.  In my marriage both of us work extremely hard and we have twins, a night in which we slow down and just enjoy each others company is rare and beautiful.  As I think about how great this night was for our relationship, I wonder how to implement this in my relationship with others and with God?  Do I eat from the fast food line in all my relationships?  What has that been doing to my friendships?  Am I scared of slowing down?  What are my reasons for going so fast?

We enjoyed the experience so much that on the way home we stopped at another fondue restaurant for desert.

The Toast

My best friends in the world are all together this weekend for a wedding.  We laugh, we cry, we tell stories, we laugh, we cry, we do something stupid and the cycle continues until we have to sleep or settle down for the wedding.  It is amazing thing to be apart of.  At each wedding we have a tradition.  We give a toast the night before the wedding.  The toast is as important as the wedding.  Many guys make it for the toast but not the actual ceremony.  We sit up late and go around in a circle of how the groom is going to make a great husband, how he is a great man, how he has brought value into our lives.  It is a rare moment of complete transparency.  It is beautiful.  I am convinced the the community that is created in those moments is what God had in mind for Christian brotherhood.   I am left wondering why cant I live my live in this kind of community and transparency?  How can I foster this authenticity in my relationships and in those that I lead?  I do know this the community I experience is life giving and I know God is active in it.  I urge you to pursue community with reckless intentionality.

Rising Above

So its the end of the year.  Which means Prom, sports, finals, senior project, graduation, looking for a job, and trying to breathe.  Life is a little hectic huh.  It is at times like these that you have to remember Sabbath.  To rest in God and know that He is God.  I know I want to run around and fix all the problems of the world.  Make everyone happy and do great at everything I touch.  The truth is I disappoint people and I kill flowers.  Why?  Cause Im not God.  I can't do it all.  When I realize that God is the one in control.  The pressure to perform slips away.  Resting in God become a place of renewal instead of tension.  Sabbath goes from something I have to do to something I get to do.

Working on Reveal

I sit in my office alone right now writing 4 messages for this week and doing all the other administrative stuff.  I could be lonely, I could be cranky, but I am not.  Why?  Miranda Strong is doing the video's and promoting this thing like a champ!, Tyler Moura designed the shirts, Daniel Boerner is exercising his creative muscle and pulling a great set design together, Pierce Drake getting a amazing worship[ band together, Taylor Vassey is working on all kinds of details, Jake Bell makes a sweet video that I didn't even have to ask for, Michelle Troche is buying all the food I need, and I keep getting interrupted by people who want to help.  This is awesome.  The Body of Christ working towards bringing students to the feet of God.  Everyone exercising their own gifts and God given talents in a beautiful harmony.  I could be overwhelmed by the stuff to do but I am overwhelmed by the Body of Christ!

Reveal is Friday night 7-9:30
Sat 10Am -3 pm
$10 at the door gets you lunch and the sweet T-shirt

Snow Days

To be honest I think I needed the Snow Day.  It was a moment of stillness that I didn't want, didn't think I wanted, and definitely ask for.  But here it is and we are forced for a couple of days to do nothing.  Have you noticed how uncomfortable you are with nothing.  In a life that is so busy all we want is a day of or vacation or to skip school but once it is here it is uncomfortable.  We focus so much time and energy and the things of our life we have forgotten how to be with each other how to slow down and talk to each other.  Or slow down and actually be with God.  So today as we settle in for another snow day.  Spend some time with God.  Turn off the Ipod, TV, Facebook and XBox.  And be with God.  It will amaze you with what can happen in your heart.

God's Calling

Come join us at Fusion for the start of our new series called God's Calling this week.  We will be working through what it means to be called by God and how that shapes our life and the lives around us.  Tonight we are talking on Nathanael's call John 1:45-51.

Reveal Student Conference

The Reveal Senior High Student Conference is coming up January 28-29.  This year we are talking about how God is revealed to you, How you reveal God to others, and how you are revealed to God.  I am really excited about all the student participation that we have in this event.  We have amazing worship bands coming and some very special guest speakers.  The cost is $10  and that includes the amazing shirt designed by our very own Tyler Moura.